Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (1790-1842), was a French naval officer who captained a vessel and explored the south-west Pacific regions at the beginning of the nineteenth century. D'Urville combined engravings from the drawings by his official expedition artist Louis Auguste de Sainson (1801-1887), with sketches and engravings from previous voyages (notably those from Captain Cook's third voyage between 1776 and 1780).

Most of the engravings were printed two on a page, one above the other, but a few, on their sides, occupied the whole page. The page measures 265 x 175mm (approximately 10.5 x 7 inches). This page has fine later hand-colour.